Motel Reservations

“Soon after its settlement, Bristol ( Rhode Island ) people began to engage in commerce with the West Indies and the Spanish Main . The first recorded shipment (November 6, 1686) consisting of a number of horses, was consigned to the “ Bristol Merchant,” bound for Surinam , British Guiana . Slave trade was introduced in Rhode Island about 1700, and Bristol was not slow in joining Newport and Providence in this highly profitable industry.

It has been estimated that over a fifth of the total number of slaves crossed the Atlantic to British American in Rhode Island vessels, and that of this fifth Bristol slavers carried the largest share. Horses, sheep, pickled fish, onions, carrots, etc. made up the cargo on the outward voyage, and coffee, molasses, sugar, rum and tropical fruits were imported. The outbreak of the Revolution struck hard at the prosperity of this flourishing commercial town.

After the war the people of Bristol rebuilt the town and commerce was soon revived, especially the slave trade with Africa and molasses and rum trade with Cuba ."

(Rhode Island, A Guide to the Smallest State, Louis Cappelli, Houghton Mifflin, 1937, pp. 184-185)

“The eagerness with which Masachusetts leaders sought to fill their State quotas by finding men in neighboring States, in Canada, or in Europe reflected the atmosphere of desperation in which these steps were taken. The same reasoning affected their decision to recruit black troops for the Union armies. Clearly, Massachusetts would benefit from such efforts. Raising black troops would enable the State to meet its draft quotas more easily, would keep white workers at their jobs, and might also be less costly than paying high premiums (bounties) to whites. (Forbes argued) that "we ought to be pushing our Negro and German resources" in order to avoid "going much into the population now at home..." In the summer of 1862, calls on Massachusetts for troops were increasingly difficult to meet, and Forbes predicted that "we must either draft men or resort...to slaves." He was sure that the citizens of Massachusetts would rather see blacks enlisted to fight "than see our people violently drafted, or brought in with enormous bounties."

(Cotton and Capital, Boston Businessmen and Anti-Slavery Reform, Richard H. Abbott, UMass Press, 1991, pp. 114-118)

Emancipated But Not Free in Rhode Island:

"Colored Voters: The colored voters of Rhode Island, who have long complained of the treatment which they have steadily received at the hands of the Republican party in the State---they being unrecognized as citizens, neglected and totally ignored in regard to their political rights, excepting that of suffrage, which is eagerly sought for---assembled in convention at Newport on the 18th of October, 1882, to express and make known their sentiments.

Several public speakers of high repute among them addressed the convention, set forth in plain language, besides other causes of complaint, that the colored voters were highly insulted by the (Republican) party in power, as they were not considered worthy being voted for, for any public offices in the gift of the people; declaring also that henceforward they intended to act independently of the Republican party on all occasions, but vote for the person, whatever the party to which he might belong, who would recognize them as citizens.

The colored people of the State numbered 6271 in 1875, and 6592 in 1880."

(Rhode Island, Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1882, Appleton & Company, pp. 791-792)